Rebirth of Uzumaki
by Advent of Shadows' Archive
Summary: Taking his training seriously after the Land of Waves arc with the help of his sensei, Naruto brings about great changes. With him, the Uzumaki clan will be reborn. Naruto/Sakura. Abandoned.
1. Chapter 1

Before you read this, let me make one thing clear. This story is an abandoned story. This account is being used to archive my abandoned stories.

Furthermore, my active account is "Advent of Shadows."

**1. Point of Divergence**

'It's great to be back.' Naruto Uzumaki thought as he stepped outside of the Administration Building of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

He had only arrived back in the village about two hours ago. Of course, he had spent those two hours with his team and sensei talking to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, about the mission that they had just completed.

It seemed that a long debriefing was required for teams of genin that went on A-rank missions, especially when they fought the Demon of the Hidden Mist and an ice using shinobi. The thought of his battle with Haku still sent shivers down his spine. The boy was on a whole other level than Naruto, though the blond had still managed to win their fight. He was not quite sure how that happened though.

Interlocking his fingers behind the back of his head, Naruto began to walk down the street with a content smile upon his face. He had just been paid for his part in an A-rank mission, which meant that he could afford all the ramen he could eat and then some.

It was a little later than Naruto normally ate dinner, but that was to be expected. It took a couple days to get back to the village from the Land of Waves, and the time it took to debrief had only made it later.

It did not take long before Naruto was standing in front of the Ichiraku Ramen stand with a big smile on his face. He immediately released his hands from their interlocked position behind his head and brushed the canvas covering that surrounded the ramen stand aside to enter.

"I was beginning to think you stopped liking this place." Teuchi said with a small grin as he stood behind the bar, looking at Naruto. It was easy to see that his eyes held a hint of happiness at seeing the young blond.

"No! Never! I'll always love this place and your food!" Naruto declared with fierce denial.

Teuchi just chuckled at hearing that. "Calm down, Naruto. I was just teasing you. While I make you a bowl of ramen, why don't you tell me where you've been? The only reason you'd go a whole month without being here was if you were in the hospital or on a mission after all."

"I'd like to hear that too." Iruka Umino said as he entered the stand with a smile on his face. "I just heard that you were back, Naruto. I figured you'd head here as soon as you got off. Ramen's on me tonight."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei; you're the best." Naruto said with a big smile. Not having to pay meant that he would be able to buy more ramen in the long run.

Taking a seat next to the boy, the chunin said, "It's not a problem. So, why don't you tell us all about your mission? I was there when Lord Hokage gave you it. If I recall correctly, it was a C-rank bodyguard mission to escort a bridge builder to the Land of Waves so that he could finish a bridge."

"That's right!" Naruto said as he remembered Iruka being in the room when he demanded that Team Seven get a better mission. "But… it wasn't a C-rank mission. Kakashi-sensei said it turned into an A-rank mission."

Those words seemed to cause Iruka and Teuchi to go wide eyed. From a normal rookie genin, they would have said that he was exaggerating, but they had known Naruto long enough to be able to tell the truth just by hearing his tone and seeing his facial expressions.

"What happened?" Iruka asked.

That question prompted Naruto into telling them all about the journey to the Land of Waves, including the fight with the Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist.

After Naruto got to the part about them departing on the boat to the Land of Waves, he paused for a moment.

"Wouldn't it just be a B-rank mission then?" Teuchi asked. In a major hidden village, it was expected of civilians to understand certain aspects of shinobi life. Being as old as he was, Teuchi knew even more than most.

"That's not even the half of it." Naruto said with a grim smile. "On the boat ride, our client, Tazuna, told us about how some rich dude named Gato wanted him dead since a bridge would cause him problems, or something like that."

'Gato… he's a very rich shipping magnate, unless I'm mistaken.' Iruka thought. 'I've heard rumors of him being a crime lord as well.'

"On the way to old man Tazuna's house, we were attacked again. It was only one ninja… but he was on Kakashi-sensei's level. He's name was Zabuza Momoshi."

"Do you mean Zabuza Momochi?" Iruka asked, eyes going even wider.

"Err… yeah, that's what I meant. He had this big ass sword." Naruto answered with a nod of his head.

"Naruto, he's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. There are not many ninja in our village that could have defeated someone on his level. You see, he wasn't just an ordinary member of the Seven Swordsmen. He was one of the strongest of the Seven Swordsmen in the village's history. His generation of the Seven Swordsmen was unparalleled in both skill and ruthlessness. He was…."

"He was the Demon of the Hidden Mist, a man known for butchering everyone taking the Graduation Exams while he wasn't even a student. Yeah, he told us that." Naruto interrupted, seeing where Iruka was going. "Kakashi-sensei told us a bit more about him when we were headed home."

Teuchi set a bowl of miso ramen in front of that point, causing Naruto to take a bite before continuing his story. It was easy to see that neither one of them would have been too thrilled if he took a break from the story to eat his ramen. It was an enthralling story, after all.

Naruto covered the first battle with Zabuza, their training with Kakashi, the tale of Kaiza's death, his meeting with Haku, and the battle at the bridge in as much detail as he could possibly give, though he remained vague about how he beat Haku in the end.

By the end of the story, Naruto had five empty bowls of ramen in front of him and a full stomach.

"So after we saved the day, we buried Zabuza and Haku and guarded old man Tazuna until the bridge was completed. Two weeks later, we came home, and here I am." Naruto said with a yawn. "I'm tired though. If you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. Kakashi-sensei gave us the rest of the week off since we did an A-rank mission. I want to get up early tomorrow and get some training in."

'He's already accomplishing things I did not expect of him… at least not this soon.' Iruka thought with a small smile. "Hey Naruto, how would you like to learn a few new things during your break?"

Hearing the offer surprised Naruto. "What do you mean, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, it sounds like you're going to have a lot of free time, and you said that your sensei is always later. So, I thought I'd offer to teach you a few things in my free time after class tomorrow. I might not know jutsu as powerful as your sensei does, but I still know quite a few things." Iruka said.

"I'd like that, Iruka-sensei. Where should we meet?" Naruto asked, excited about learning something new.

"Meet me at the Academy tomorrow. We can't start until my class ends though, so you might not want to come too early." Iruka said as he placed a hand on the blond's head and ruffled his hair.

"Alright, I'll be there!" Naruto promised as he rose to his feet. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye Naruto." Teuchi said.

"See you tomorrow." Iruka said as he waved to his former and once again student.

"He's something else." Teuchi said with a chuckle once Naruto was gone. "What kind of genin demands a more challenging mission and ends up with an A-rank mission?"

Iruka could not help but laugh in agreement with his old friend. Much like Naruto, he had come to like Ichiraku Ramen as a result of the way he was treated by the owner. When his parents died in the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's attack, Teuchi and his father had treated him quite well and never ignored him. That was a rarity for Iruka growing up. It was easy to forget that a boy orphaned by the fox's attack even existed, after all. Too many people were focused solely on rebuilding the village and treasuring the time that they had with their families as a result of them surviving the chakra monster's attack.

"He'll accomplish great things. Mark my words." Teuchi said with a sigh of contentment. It was easy to tell that he truly believed his statement with every fiber of his being. "I'm sure your training will help him too. I do find it strange that you would offer training like you did though. With how busy you are because of your class, I'd think it would be hard to spare much time training a genin. If I recall correctly, most people don't offer to train a genin without receiving permission from said genin's jonin-sensei."

"I have the time, and asking Kakashi would merely be a formality. When it comes right down to it, I'm a more experienced teacher than Kakashi, and Naruto needs all the training he can get. From his time in the Academy, I can tell that he needs to work on the fundamentals."

Teuchi merely nodded, though he did not follow Iruka completely. As informed as he was, he did not know too much about ninja training at all.

"I suppose I should eat now. I got distracted by Naruto's story." Iruka said as he picked up his chop sticks and began to eat the ramen that sat before him.

"You'd better. Naruto wouldn't be too happy if he found out that his favorite chunin wasted ramen." Teuchi said with a light chuckle. The boy was hard to pin down, it seemed. He was hyperactive most of the time, but he also seemed to adopt a very serious attitude at times. He demonstrated that during certain parts of the story.

In response, Iruka just ate faster.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Naruto woke up about ten minutes before eight o'clock, though his alarm clock had been set for ten o'clock. He was not going to complain about waking up early.<p>

After a cup of ramen for breakfast, Naruto got dressed in his normal attire and left his apartment. He made sure to grab his frog shaped wallet before he left too.

Since he had gotten paid the night before, he decided to go to the store and get some new clothes. He liked his orange jumpsuit just fine, but he only had the one. Given his past experiences living alone, he was able to realize that constantly wearing something and washing it on a nearly nightly basis could cause it to accumulate wear and tear much quicker. That was why he was going to get some new clothes.

It did not take long for Naruto to find his favorite ninja tools shop, Tamura Ninja Tools. He had only been there once so far, despite the fact that it was his favorite ninja shop. It was one of the few shops that only catered to registered shinobi of the village. Without a forehead protector on, it was hard to get too far past the door before being asked to leave.

He quickly entered the shop that had a giant shuriken emblem above the front door. When he was inside, he saw that the only person inside was the owner, an older man by the name of Hideki Tamura. He was standing behind the counter that circled around the store. The purpose for the large counter, according to the man, was to prevent anyone from getting too close to the weapons that were hung on the walls. The rest of the shop was filled with racks that held clothing suitable for shinobi. Most of the clothing looked like civilians would wear it, but it was made of a higher quality and was much more durable.

"Hello, young Uzumaki." Hideki said with a kind smile. From Naruto's experience the last time he was in the shop, the old man smiled every time he talked to a customer.

Naruto nodded politely. He knew that the old man was not interested in talking anyway. Being nice to customers just made them more inclined to buy from him.

He quickly moved over to the clothing section, and began looking for something suitable to wear. It did not take him long to realize that none of the clothes in the section were orange.

"Do you have any orange clothes?" Naruto asked as he looked back at Hideki.

"No, I can't say I do. I can order some if you'd like though…." Hideki said, trailing off. Orange clothes made specifically for a ninja… that always required a custom order.

"Never mind…." Naruto said as he put his hands in his pockets and began to walk back towards the door. It seemed that he would not get to get any new clothes after all.

He stopped halfway to the door though. A few flashbacks of the mission to the Land of Waves hit him all of the sudden.

'Maybe I should get something other than orange….' Naruto thought as he turned back to look at the racks of clothing. Remembering the mission had caused him to remember how being so hyperactive and loud had almost cost him his life. If Haku had not saved him from Zabuza's shuriken, then he would have been critically injured during the mission at the very least… Sasuke might have died as well….

Naruto scanned through the racks and found a basic set of ninja attire like Kakashi and Iruka wore underneath their flak jackets. Once he found the sets in his size, he grabbed three of them. He also grabbed three plain pairs of dark blue fingerless gloves.

As he walked towards the counter, he stopped one more time to pick up a short sleeve black shirt and a pair of black sandals. He then placed all of the clothes on the counter and said, "I'd also like four new shuriken holsters stocked. Make two of them dark blue and two of the black. Oh, and I need a fully stocked hip pouch as well."

Hideki smiled a little bigger at that order. The kid had just ordered sixty shuriken, fifteen kunai, twenty paper bombs, and a few other ninja tools on top of all the clothes.

He quickly went to the backroom and came back a few minutes later with all that Naruto had asked for. Placing it on the counter in front of Naruto, he said, "That will be four thousand, two hundred thirty-nine ryo."

Without hesitation, Naruto pulled out his wallet and paid for the order. When all of the money for the order was on the counter, Hideki was able to see that Naruto could have easily paid for three orders like that with nearly a thousand ryo left.

'Most genin don't have that type of cash….' Hideki thought as he put the ryo up. He did not feel like questioning it though. "Have a nice day."

"Thanks… you too." Naruto said as he grabbed all of the equipment and headed home to put it up. Later, he would go to the Academy to meet up with Iruka. He still had hours until he needed to be there though.


	2. Chapter 2

**2. A New Mission**

A yawn escaped his mouth as the young blond stood leaning against the handrail of the bridge that Team Seven met at every morning. Sitting on the bench on the side of the bridge opposite to Naruto was Sakura Haruno. At the start, or the end depending on which side of the bridge one approached from, of the bridge, Sasuke was leaning against the rail as well.

It had been one month since Team Seven had returned to the Hidden Leaf Village. Well… it had been one month and three days, to be precise. It was the first day of June, meaning that it had been exactly three months since the official formation of Team Seven.

Not much had happened in the past month. Upon returning from the Land of Waves, Team Seven had been stuck with D-rank missions and training. Though they trained quite a bit during the month, they did not actually learn many new things. They mostly sparred and did physical training, though Kakashi did have them do some teamwork training and individual training a few times.

For Sasuke, the individual training consisted primarily of learning a few more fire ninjutsu techniques and getting used to using the Sharingan.

For Sakura, the individual training consisted of chakra control exercises and an introduction to basic genjutsu.

For Naruto, the individual training consisted purely of learning better ways to employ shadow clones in combat. Of course, Naruto received more individual training than his teammates, though Kakashi was not part of the experience. Iruka had met with Naruto every weekend since his return to the village, along with a few days after class, and had given the young blond quite a bit of individual training.

In the past month, Sasuke and Sakura had noticed that Naruto seemed to have changed radically. He was still hyperactive and loud, but he did not actively try to compete with Sasuke, ask Sakura out on dates, or complain non-stop anymore. His style of clothing had changed as well. He had taken to wearing the standard Leaf ninja attire with blue fingerless gloves, which made him see less like a joke to them. His skills had also improved, though his skills with taijutsu and ninjutsu still seemed to be far below Sasuke's.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, got lost on the road of life?" Naruto asked as he let out another yawn.

As soon as the other genin heard Naruto's words, they quickly looked around and saw Kakashi sitting in a tree off to the side.

'How did he…?" Sasuke thought, trying to figure out how Naruto sensed him when he did not.

'Sasuke must have sensed him already. I wonder why he didn't say anything though….' Sakura thought.

'It seems my suspicious are correct. The only way he could have sensed me was with _that_ technique. I know for a fact that his hearing and sense of smell aren't good enough to detect me, and his chakra control is too shoddy to give him any skill as a sensor.' Kakashi thought. He knew that he would have to talk to a certain chunin after the mission was done. He did not have a problem with his student getting additional training. After all, everyone on Team Eight and Team Ten received additional training from an outside source. His problem was with the fact that he was not told about Naruto's additional training. As Naruto's sensei and captain, it was important that he know all about the young genin's abilities.

'This explains his sudden improvements this past month.' Kakashi thought. "I suppose I did. I was only a little late this time though."

"Kakashi-sensei, we were supposed to meet two hours ago." Sakura said with a dramatic sigh. She was beginning to get the feeling that Kakashi would never be on time.

"Well, Lord Hokage asked me to come to his office at that time. I wasn't late getting there though." Kakashi said with an eye smile. The meeting had only lasted ten minutes though, so he was still incredibly late. They did not need to know that though. "Look at the bright side. We have a C-rank mission, and this time, we know the client isn't lying to us."

The cheerful way that Kakashi said that made Sakura roll her eyes.

"What's the mission?" Sasuke asked, eager to do something challenging.

"We have to protect the seventh son of the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire for a period of fifteen days." Kakashi answered. "He is tenth in line for the position of Feudal Lord, so he's not too big of a target. We are to protect him from bandits and possibly assassins, though the odds of enemy ninja showing up are slim."

"I don't understand what you mean, sensei. Doesn't he have samurai body guards if he's one of the Feudal Lord's sons?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Kakashi nodded. "When he is at his estate, he has dozens of highly trained samurai to guard him. He is a gambler though, and he is currently in Tanzaku Quarters gambling. He has actually been there for a month and a half already. Different teams have been guarding and protecting him. We will be replacing one of those teams. At the end of the fifteen days, a team of chunin will be taking our place, and they will escort him back to his estate."

"If he's the Feudal Lord's son, why is he hiring genin?" Sasuke asked.

"He hires genin partially because it guarantees that he will have one talented jonin to protect him. Another reason he does it is because it is cheaper. The main reason though has something to do with gambling. I'll explain it later." Kakashi said. With the Chunin Exams one month away, he did not want to get their hopes up.

The truth was that the Feudal Lord's son hired genin so that he could get to know them, even if only to a small extent, and see their talent in the hopes that he would see them in the finals of the Chunin Exams. With that knowledge, he could make safer bets. He was a gambling man after all.

At that moment, Kakashi was fiercely debating the decision to dominate his team for the Chunin Exams. Individually, they were talented genin. Even Sakura was getting to be fairly decent. They lacked the teamwork that they should have had though. So, he did not want to get their hopes up and then decide not to let them participate.

"So when do we go, Kakashi-sensei? We have to be there by tonight, don't we?" Naruto asked in excitement.

"Yes, we have to be there by tonight. We go on duty at midnight. We will stand guard in twelve hour shifts. Sasuke and I will guard him from midnight to noon. Naruto and Sakura will stand guard from noon to midnight. With two guards at all times, he will be safer." Kakashi answered. "Now, I want you all to meet me at the gates in one hour. Be there with your gear packed and ready to go."

"Yes sensei." the three genin said in unison. They did not sound all that enthusiastic about it though. Well, Naruto did.

"Naruto, I want you to stay for a moment. I need to talk to you alone." Kakashi said as he locked eye with Naruto.

Sakura and Sasuke left in a hurry, leaving Naruto and Kakashi on the bridge by themselves.

"Iruka's been training you." Kakashi stated.

"Yes, he has." Naruto answered without pause or hesitation.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were getting additional training? I would not have objected." Kakashi said. The words rang true. Even Naruto could see that.

"You didn't ask." Naruto said, earning a surprised look from his sensei. "Weren't you the one who told me you shouldn't tell everyone about your abilities? You didn't tell us you knew over a thousand jutsu after all. _Our enemy did_."

Kakashi looked taken aback by the last part. He knew that he could not fault Naruto for hiding any of his abilities when the blond was not informed of his comrades' abilities. He doubted that Naruto even knew what Sasuke's abilities were outside of Sharingan and fire ninjutsu. Sakura's abilities were even more obscure.

'Maybe that's why their teamwork needs so much work.' Kakashi mused.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "I can't disagree with you there. Would you be willing to tell me what new abilities Iruka has taught you?"

Naruto nodded. "Iruka-sensei has just been helping me with the basics, really. He's helped me with taijutsu and chakra control mostly." It was clear that, while he was answering the question, he was being quite vague.

"Naruto, I can tell that he taught you some ninjutsu. You sensed me using that jutsu that he created, the Echolocation Technique." Kakashi said, not impressed by Naruto's lying.

"I said that he has been helping me with taijutsu and chakra control _mostly_. He taught me the Echolocation Technique and the Body Flicker Technique also. He said that learning them would improve my charka control." Naruto said, looking Kakashi in his visible idea with unwavering will.

Kakashi eye smiled at Naruto's words. "I'm not upset with you, Naruto. I just needed to know what your abilities were. With Iruka's Echolocation Technique, you will be able to watch over the client more easily. I certainly can't be upset with you learning to do your job more efficiently, now can I?"

"He taught me it in case I ever had to fight someone that uses Zabuza's silent killing method of fighting." Naruto said with a shake of his head. "He made me promise not to teach anyone else how to use it though. He said that he wants to keep the technique in his family." It was easy to see that Naruto was happy that Iruka shared it with him.

"I can understand that. Does it require hand signs?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"No, it's pure chakra control." Naruto said as he rubbed his head. "I can't use my chakra to do anything else while the technique is active though."

Kakashi filed that information away for future reference. The technique had a rather large weakness to it. Actually, only Naruto's version did. He knew for a fact that Iruka could keep the technique active and still use ninjutsu and genjutsu. It reminded Kakashi of how some people attempted to replicate the Gentle Fist taijutsu style. Even if they were taught by a Hyuga, their technique ended up a bastardization of the original.

"Once the mission is done with, I will be meeting with Iruka. I will only be asking for weekly reports so that I can gain an understanding of your skill level. This will help me know what to teach you." Kakashi said. "Now, I want you to go get ready. You might want to leave Iruka a note saying that you're out of the village on a mission."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said before he formed the ram hand sign. In an instant, he was gone.

"Both of his new techniques seem to rather low level." Kakashi commented. "He's definitely improving in other ways though. I wonder why he's stopped actively challenging Sasuke and asking Sakura out though."

"I advised him to." Iruka said as he stepped out from under the bridge, where he was stranding on the below river. "You just happened to confront him about your suspicions on the day that I was coming to tell you about me training him."

"You almost escaped my detection. How did you escape Naruto's though? You were here when I arrived." Kakashi asked curiously.

"I created the Echolocation Technique. I know how to make myself invisible to it. It's much easier with Naruto's weaker version of it." Iruka answered. "I suppose I should answer your first question now. Why did I advise him to stop challenging Sasuke and asking Sakura out? It's not the same exact question, but it is close enough. I did it to help him. I saw that every time he got a little better, he would challenge Sasuke. He ended up spending more time challenging Sasuke than he did training. So, I left him with the goal of becoming stronger than his teammate, but I did not allow him to test himself that often. When he thinks back to their skill levels, he will remember how much stronger Sasuke was than he was. That leaves him with great motivation to get stronger."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. Naruto was receiving the benefits from the rivalry without spending all his time challenging the boy to see who was better.

"He agreed to that much faster than he agreed to stop asking Sakura out." Iruka said as he shook his head. "I convinced him that he was distracting himself from training and that she'd only see him the way she sees Sasuke if he surpasses the Uchiha."

"You tricked him." Kakashi said in surprise. "You essentially told him she'd only become his fan girl if he surpassed Sasuke."

"Deception is the shinobi way." Iruka said with a shrug.

Kakashi could not disagree with that statement, so he changed the subject. "Did Naruto tell the truth about what you've taught him?"

"Yes, he did." Iruka answered. Honesty could be seen in his eyes. "He did not, however, say that his only new skills were taijutsu, chakra control, and a couple ninjutsu techniques. He said that I taught him nothing more. That's it. He has learned a few things in his spare time as well. Because I did not help me with those other things, I will not divulge them though. He has had one secret forced upon him. I think he's perfectly entitled to keeping one of his own voluntarily."

Kakashi could not disagree with Iruka there.

"I can accept that." Kakashi said as he began to walk away.

Within an hour, Team Seven was headed to Tanzaku Quarters.


	3. Chapter 3

**3. Protection Detail**

Guarding a noble sounded like a fun job to Naruto when he was first told of his mission. In all honesty, it was incredibly boring though.

One week had passed since Team Seven replaced Team Ten as the guards of Arashi, the seventh son of the Feudal Lord. As soon as they had arrived, Naruto and Sakura had gone to sleep in their hotel rooms, which were down the hall from Arashi's room. Kakashi and Sasuke had stood guard from midnight until noon, when the shift changed to Naruto and Sakura's turn.

Kakashi and Sasuke had the worse shift as bodyguards, though the former had stressed that it was the most important one. Arashi often slept from midnight until ten o'clock, so their job was simply to guard a sleeping man for all but two hours of their shift. It was, however, the most likely time for assassins to come after him.

Naruto and Sakura had the less boring shift, though not by much. They typically followed Arashi around town, watching him gamble and eat meals. Given that Arashi was a terrible gambler, a fact that Naruto and Sakura had learned within their first day, no one ever had a reason to attack him. It was hard to get angry at someone that seemed to just give their riches away. It was a wonder how he could afford to stay in town for more than a week.

There was only one thing about the mission that Naruto had found that he liked. He spent a great deal of time with Sakura, even though they did not talk all that much. Whenever Arashi went to bed early or he was playing a card game, they would occasionally have conversations. It was surprising how easily it was for Sakura to be around Naruto without him annoying her. That was her thought on the matter, at least.

Eight days into the mission without any problems whatsoever made Naruto begin to think that their mission would be more like a D-rank mission than like a C-rank one.

Sakura seemed to be of the same belief, from how she often yawned and looked away from Arashi, who was playing poker.

Closing his eyes, Naruto channeled his chakra into his ears in the special way that Iruka has taught him. In an instant, he was able to see the entire room in his mind. The only difference was that he could not see colors or writing. He could really only see shapes, though they were often more detailed than simply circles, squares, and rectangles.

Naruto kept his eyes closed as the technique remained active. It was possible to use it with his eyes open, but it made him dizzy if he did it for too long. It turned out that the technique was quite useful at that moment.

Within a few minutes of activating the technique, a man withdrew a knife from his kimono as he walked past Arashi and tried to sheathe it in the noble's back.

Sakura blinked as the air shimmered next to her. Looking at where Naruto had just been standing, she saw that she was by herself. Quickly looking at Arashi, she saw that Naruto was standing behind the noble with his hand gripping the wrist of a man that was holding a knife in his hand.

She quickly sprung into action, running over to Arashi to protect him in case anyone else showed up.

"You're quick." the man said before he struck Naruto in the stomach with his free hand and threw his knife past Naruto and towards Arashi.

The knife stopped right before the blade touched Arashi. Naruto's hand was gripping the hilt of the blade.

"I'm a ninja. We don't go down that easily." Naruto said as he brought the knife in a horizontal arc on instinct. Before he realized what his instincts were telling him to do, he had slit the assassin's throat with his own knife.

Before Naruto could really think of what he had just done, the sound of glass breaking made him reactivate the Echolocation Technique.

"There are six more assassins coming." Naruto said, his hand shaking. It was not easy maintaining his cool when he had just killed a man for the first time. "Sakura, make sure none of them get to him. I'll try to stop them from even getting near you though."

"Naruto, you aren't the only one who can fight." Sakura said.

"I know. You shouldn't have to take a life though… not yet, at least." Naruto said. He then tossed the knife into the air, caught it by the blade, and threw it directly over Arashi's head. It struck an assassin in the chest just as he stepped into the room.

"Naruto, your eyes are shut." Sakura said, amazed that he could manage a throw like that with his eyes shut. She would have scolded him for doing it if his aim had not been so true.

"It's one of my techniques." Naruto said simply. He quickly drew a kunai and threw it to the other side of the room, hitting another assassin in the neck.'

Arashi sat there quietly, having set down his cards long ago. He was amazed how well Naruto was taking the situation, along with his display of skill.

'The blond kid is definitely skilled.' Arashi thought. He knew that he would have to inquire about him later on.

Naruto's eyes quickly opened as he formed the ram hand sign. He quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to appear on the other side of the room just as two assassins entered there. Each one had a katana in hand.

He quickly drew another kunai and parried the strike of one of the assassins before he slit the man's throat. He then engaged the other assassin in a sword to kunai fight. It took a few minutes for Naruto to kill him as well.

Just as he killed that assassin, Naruto glanced over his shoulder and saw an assassin sneaking up behind Sakura. There was no way that he could alert her in time for her to be able to counter it.

Naruto used the Body Flicker Technique again, quickly appearing between the assassin and Sakura. As he appeared, the assassin was swinging his katana. If he did not raise a defense quickly enough, Naruto knew that the assassin would bury the blade of his sword in his left hip.

Due to the fact that Naruto did not believe that he could draw another kunai in time to block the katana, he did something a bit different. He brought the kunai in his left hand in a fast arc with chakra enhanced speed. The blade of the kunai passed through the assassin's throat before slamming into the side of the katana, dropping it to the ground.

Warm blood splashed upon Naruto's cheek as the kunai passed through the assassin's throat.

Sakura turned around quickly as she heard the katana hit the ground. She turned just in time to see Naruto's blood covered face turn to her and the body of the assassin that he had just killed drop to the ground.

The sight before her normally would have shocked her, but she did not have any time to hesitate at that moment. She quickly formed the hand signs of snake and rat, whispering, "Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage Jutsu"

The assassin that had been sneaking up on Naruto suddenly fainted with a shriek, causing the blond to turn around and look in surprise.

"I told you I can fight too." Sakura said, though her words were too soft to sound like an 'I told you so' or a rebuke.

"This is a bit unexpected." Kakashi commented as he entered the room and looked around. "Is everyone okay?"

"I'm fine. It's not my blood." Naruto said as he looked at Kakashi. There was no sign of a smile on his face. He had just killed six people. That was hard to smile through.

"I'm fine too. Naruto saved me." Sakura said, looking a bit embarrassed at having to be saved at all. She was a kunoichi after all. One interesting thing, to Kakashi at least, was that she did not appear to be embarrassed about _Naruto_ saving her.

"You have two splendid students here. I didn't even get a scratch on me." Arashi said with a wide grin. "I suppose I picked a good team when I asked for the ones that fought Zabuza Momochi."

"Thank you." Kakashi said politely. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like for us all to get back to the hotel now. I doubt anyone's going to be gambling here until the bodies are disposed of anyhow."

Arashi simply nodded in agreement and rose to his feet. He then looked at Naruto. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to make your first kill."

"Why were they after you?" Sakura asked when she saw that Naruto was not going to respond.

"There are people below me in the line of succession. Don't worry too much about it. It happens occasionally." Arashi said.

Kakashi picked up the unconscious assassin that Sakura had placed in a genjutsu and immediately led his students and client back to the hotel.

When they arrived at the hotel, Kakashi took the assassin back to his room to interrogate while Naruto and Sakura guarded Arashi in his hotel room.

About an hour after they arrived, Kakashi entered the room with Sasuke.

"The assassin confirmed my suspicions. It seems that the assassins were simply hired killers without a real motive for wanting you dead. He knew of no other assassins coming after you either." Kakashi said as he looked at Arashi. It seemed that the man had expected as much.

"Now, I'd like to talk to Naruto in his room. Sasuke, I was you to stand guard with Sakura, just in case." Kakashi said as he led Naruto out of the room.

When they reached Naruto's room, Kakashi said, "You killed six people today. I did not expect you to kill anyone for a few years, to be honest. It seems that you're the first one that I get to have this talk with…."

For the next several hours, Kakashi talked to Naruto about first kills and killing in general.

The rest of the mission went the same way that the beginning of it did. Arashi was never in any danger, and they were all bored out of their mind.

Naruto seemed to stay quiet quite a bit though, which worried Sakura. How could it not worry her? He was never as quiet as he was following his actions against the assassins. She was not sure if she even wanted him to be talkative either, in all actuality. How could she see Naruto the same way after he saved her life?

At the end of the fifteen days of bodyguard duty, Naruto seemed to be smiling a bit more than he had since the fight, which gave the young genjutsu user hope.

One confliction seemed to be at the center of Sakura's heard though. That confliction was her feelings towards her teammates. One was cool, handsome, and strong. The other was strong, selfless, and kind. Though she still had a crush on Sasuke, she could not seem to completely reevaluate her opinion on Naruto. There still seemed to be too much that remained an unknown to her.

That is what occupied her thoughts and she walked back to the Hidden Leaf Village alongside her teammates and sensei.

Sasuke's thoughts were occupied with the wish that he had gotten to test himself against assassins like Naruto did.

The last two members of the team had the thoughts that were expected of them. Naruto was thinking about ramen, which was why he was smiling. Kakashi was thinking about the new Make-Out book that was supposed to come out within the next few months.

"That kid will become a legend one day." Arashi said as soon as Team Seven was far enough that he could barely even tell which was which.


	4. Chapter 4

**4. The Chunin Exams**

It was the eighth day since Team Seven had returned to the Hidden Leaf Village after their mission to protect Arashi. Things already seemed to be getting normal. Naruto had even begun to revert back to his old self a little. He still followed Iruka's advice about challenging Sasuke and asking Sakura out though.

Kakashi was broken from his musing as the first words of the meeting were spoken.

"I believe that you all know why I have called you here today." Hiruzen Sarutobi stated. "For those of you who have not been paying attention to the date, I'll explain. The Chunin Selection Exams will begin in seven days on the first day of July."

Murmurs could be heard automatically. It was to be expected. Not everyone paid attention to the date in correspondence to the Chunin Selection Exams.

"This time, the Chunin Selection Exams will be hosted here." Hiruzen said, surprising most of the people present. Since the Chunin Exams switched places between two major villages and several minor villages, it was a bit difficult to keep track of at times.

"Ibiki Morino, step forward." Hiruzen said as he looked at the head of the Torture and Interrogation Force. As soon as the scarred man stepped forward, he said, "I would like you to be the proctor for the first test."

Ibiki nodded. "That will be fine." He sounded indifferent, but he had always liked being a proctor for the Chunin Exams. It was fun. He did not feel like revealing to anyone that he thought anything outside of torture was fun though. That would ruin his reputation.

"Anko Mitarashi, step forward." Hiruzen said as he looked at the former apprentice of his greatest failure. When she stepped forward to Ibiki's right, he said, "I would like you to be the proctor of the second test."

"Yes Lord Hokage." Anko said with a trace of excitement in her voice. During the Chunin Exams, few missions took place, so she would have been rather bored if she had not been chosen as a proctor. The second test was always fun to proctor too.

"Hayate Gekko, step forward." Hiruzen said. The sword wielding special jonin took his place to the right of Anko in an instant. "I would like you to be the proctor of the third test."

"It will be an honor, Lord Hokage." Hayate said, speaking only enough words to get a proper response out. He did not want to have a coughing fit suddenly hit him while talking to the Hokage after all.

"The proctors for the Chunin Selection Exams are Ibiki Morino, Anko Mitarashi, and Hayate Gekko." Hiruzen said as he glanced to one of his assistants, who quickly began writing that information down. Clearing his throat, he said, "You three may step to the side now. We will begin going over nominations for the Chunin Exams now."

As soon as he spoke, Ibiki, Anko, and Hayate walked off to the side so that the nominating jonin could stand where they had been.

"I would like to begin the nominations by asking the jonin in charge of the rookie genin to step forward." Hiruzen said. As he said that, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma stepped forward. It seemed to be a rare day, for Kakashi did not even have his book out.

"As you know, any genin may take part in the Chunin Exams as long as they have completed at least eight missions and have been nominated by their jonin-sensei, though it is recommended that the genin has more experience before attempting the exams." Hiruzen said. He knew that all of them were aware of that, but it was tradition to say it. "Would any of you like to nominate your genin?"

Iruka was not surprised when he saw Kakashi take an addition step forward.

"I, Kakashi Hatake, am the jonin-sensei of Team Seven. I nominate my team- consisting of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki- for the Chunin Selection Exams." Kakashi said before taking a step back.

"I, Kurenai Yuhi, am the jonin-sensei of Team Eight. I nominate my team- consisting of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka- for the Chunin Selection Exams." Kurenai said as she stepped forward. As she finished speaking, she stepped back.

Asuma stepped forward at that point. "I, Asuma Sarutobi, am the jonin-sensei of Team Ten. I nominate my team- consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi- for the Chunin Selection Exams." He then stepped back.

'Interesting… all nine rookies have been nominated….' Hiruzen thought.

At hearing that all nine rookie genin were nominated, Iruka wanted to object on the basis that they could not be ready after only four months. He kept his mouth shut though. Naruto was proof that a genin could become fairly strong in such a short period of time. Given that he had no qualms about Naruto, the dead-last, taking part in the Chunin Exams, he could not deny those that showed more skilled than he did in the Academy. Plus, Iruka doubted the Hokage would take his word over that of the jonin-sensei.

"Don't you think you three are pushing your students a little too fast?" a green spandex wearing jonin asked as he stepped out from the crowd. It was, of course, Might Guy. "Your students might be incredible, but the Chunin Exams are not something to be taken lightly. Perhaps you should do what I did and wait a year before nominating them."

"Why would we do that?" Asuma asked. "Are you afraid that your students will lose to Kakashi's?"

Kakashi would have glared at Asuma for bringing his rivalry with Guy to the man's attention, but it would have made it difficult to say what he was about to.

"Afraid? Never! Just as always, I will win this challenge with the Flames of Youth!" Guy declared.

"Hmm… did you say something?" Kakashi asked as he glanced at Guy lazily.

"There you go with your cool, hip attitude!" Guy said, feeling annoyed at his friend's attitude.

"As entertaining as this is, there are some more jonin present that want to nominate their genin." Hiruzen said, snapping them out of their conversation. "Team Seven, Team Eight, and Team Ten have been nominated by their jonin-sensei. I accept their nominations. Likewise, I accept the nomination of Team Guy."

His assistant began to furiously write down all the names so that they could be entered in the list of participants.

"Now, who else would like to nominate their team?" Hiruzen asked once Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Guy were out of the way.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile….<p>

"Let me go!" Konohamaru yelled as a Sand shinobi dressed from head to toe in black held him into the air by his scarf. The shinobi had purple kabuki style face paint on, in addition to having a large bandaged object on his back.

"Why would I do that? You're just a little brat? You ran into me." the ninja said.

"Kankuro, leave the kid alone. It was probably an accident." a blonde kunoichi said from his side. She had a large iron battle fan with her.

"No Temari, this brat's going to get what he deserves." Kankuro said.

"Drop him now." Naruto said as he and Sakura arrived at the scene. He inwardly sighed at the trouble Konohamaru got himself into. The boy had insulted Sakura for some reason, and she had chased him away. Naruto managed to get her to calm down, but doing that seemed to take long enough for Konohamaru to get into even more trouble.

'Those are Sand shinobi. Why are they here?' Sakura thought.

"Again, I'm not dropping the brat until he pays for what he did." Kankuro said as he pulled back one fist to punch the young Sarutobi.

His fist never made contact with Konohamaru though. Inches from reaching him, Naruto caught his wrist. The sheer speed that Naruto appeared and caught the puppet user's fist shocked Kankuro and Temari.

"You should have listened." Naruto said as he slammed his right fist into Kankuro's face, sending him staggering backwards and dropping Konohamaru. Naruto disappeared again before Konohamaru even hit the ground.

Reappearing behind Kankuro with his hands in the tiger hand sign, he said, "Hidden Leaf Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death"

Hearing the name of the jutsu, Kankuro looked over his shoulder. He barely saw Naruto before he received a chakra enhanced kancho. After feeling two fingers go where they should not have gone, he was sent flying by chakra expulsion from Naruto's finger tips. It sent the puppet user flying through the air and hitting a tree, knocking him unconscious.

'He's using the Body Flicker Technique in combat… that's how he's moving around so fast.' Temari thought in amazement. The Body Flicker Technique was normally only used for traveling distances quickly and evading attacks. She had never seen anyone use it to break through an enemy's defenses in order to attack.

"I'm surprised that you're not attacking me." Naruto commented as he looked at Temari. "I just attacked your teammate."

"He deserved it." Temari said with a shrug. She also knew that he would be a difficult enemy to defeat, so attacking him would be a bad idea. Her fighting style was not exactly subtle either.

'I think he might just be cooler than Sasuke….' Sakura thought as she watched Naruto's interaction with Temari. She still did not understand how he could be hyperactive one minute and completely serious the next. It was like he had an on and off switch.

"Is Kankuro causing trouble again?" a voice said from the tree next to them, causing Naruto's attention to snap to it. A red haired boy with dark circles around his eyes was standing upside down on a tree branch.

As soon as Naruto realized that someone else had been there without him knowing, he activated his Echolocation Technique. 'That's strange… Sasuke's in another tree looking at us….'

"Yes Gaara." Temari said with a slight stutter that Naruto barely heard.

"I will kill him if he keeps it up." the boy, now identified as Gaara, said calmly. Though the words reminded Naruto of something one might say about a teammate, the tone was completely different. Gaara sounded like he was completely serious, while most people simply made a hollow threat or said it in a joking manner. Naruto got the feeling that Gaara was not making a hollow threat but one that he could, and would, fulfill.

"I apologize for the actions of my foolish brother." Gaara said, though the apology appeared to be little more than a formality. "Come Temari. We must leave."

"Wait! Why are Sand shinobi in the village?" Sakura asked as she ran up to Naruto's side.

"We're here for the Chunin Exams." Temari answered.

Stopping, Gaara looked at Naruto. "What is your name?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. And you are?"

"I am Gaara of the Sand Waterfall." The red haired Sand shinobi said with a nod. "Come Temari."

Within a few moments, Naruto, Sakura, and Konohamaru were the only ones in sight.

"Boss, you're so cool! Thank you so much!" Konohamaru said as he ran and hugged Naruto, who smiled at the contact.

"What are friends for?" Naruto asked with a smile.

'He's right….' Sakura thought, agreeing with Konohamaru's words inwardly. She would not admit that much aloud though.

Naruto looked over at the tree where Sasuke was standing and waved, confusing Sakura and Konohamaru.

"I'll see you guys later. I've got some things that need doing." Naruto said as he looked back at Sakura and Konohamaru. Forming the ram hand sign, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

'How strong has he become….' Sasuke thought as he tightened his fists in his hiding spot. He had known that Naruto was quite strong from their battle against Haku, but the blond seemed to be improving even more in recent months. If it had not been for his Sharingan, he would not have been able to follow Naruto's movements in the little fight that he had with the puppet user.

* * *

><p>A couple hours later, Naruto heard a knocking at the window of his apartment and turned to see Kakashi standing on his balcony.<p>

"Come in." Naruto said as he waved to his sensei.

Entering the apartment, Kakashi handed Naruto a piece of paper. "I've nominated you for the Chunin Exams, along with Sakura and Sasuke. If you sign this form at turn it in at eight o'clock on the first day of July in room three hundred one of the Academy, you will be allowed to participate in the hopes of becoming a chunin."

Naruto took the form immediately and read over it.

As the blond read over the application, Kakashi glanced at Naruto's kitchen table and saw that there were several books on it. Each book was at least four hundred pages long.

'A Beginner Guide to Fuinjutsu by The Toad Mountain Sage….' Kakashi thought as he read the title of one of the books. He was not sure whether to be surprised more that Naruto found such a book or that he was reading such a book.

"Kakashi-sensei, you look distracted. Is something wrong?" Naruto asked as he followed Kakashi's gaze to the book. When he realized what was distracting Kakashi, he said, "Oh, I guess I should have put those books up before you came in. I guess the cat's out of the bag." He did not sound remotely unhappy about Kakashi seeing the books though.

"You've been reading books about fuinjutsu?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Yeah, I have." Naruto said with a nod. "Not many people are that good with fuinjutsu, so the old man- I mean Lord Hokage- told me my best bet was just to get some books on it. It's a bit complicated, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

'A genin getting the hang of fuinjutsu… that's almost unheard of….' Kakashi thought. Very few genin ever attempted to learn any more of fuinjutsu than what was required for sealing scrolls.

As much as Kakashi would have liked to ask Naruto more about all that he had learned so far, he still had to give the applications to Sasuke and Sakura. If he did not do it right then, he knew that he might have forgotten about it.

"I'll leave you to your work then. Maybe later on I can give you some pointers. I'm not bad with fuinjutsu. My master was the Fourth Hokage, whose master wrote all four of those books. And his master was Lord Hokage. You could say fuinjutsu runs in our teachings." Kakashi said with an eye smile as he turned to leave. "Have fun."

And with that, he was gone. Naruto did not seem to notice though. He was already reading again.


	5. Chapter 5

**5. The Rookie Nine**

Naruto let out a yawn as he approached the Academy on the morning of the first of July. As he arrived in front of the building, he saw that Sasuke and Sakura were already waiting for him. As soon as they all agreed to take the test, they had decided to meet up to register for the exams as a team.

Entering the Academy, they went up the stairs and saw a sign that told them which way to go. They then began to make their way to the assigned room number. As they walked through the hall, they passed something that they had not expected to see. There was a large crowd of people standing in front of a door that said it was room three hundred one.

'It's a genjutsu….' Sakura thought as she detected the subtle trace of foreign chakra in her system. She dispelled it, though she was the only one that could see through the genjutsu as a result of such actions.

'This is the second floor. That can't be room three hundred one….' Naruto thought.

As they made their way through the crowd, they say that there were two genin on the ground bruised and exhausted. One was in a green jumpsuit while the other one had her hair in buns that made her resemble a panda.

"If you can't even get past us, how do you think you're even going to pass the test? Every year, entire teams of genin die taking the tests. Even if you survive, passing isn't guaranteed. Just look at us. We've failed three times already." One of the genin said.

"You sure do talk a lot." Sasuke said as he took a step forward. "Shut up and let us by. We can see through your genjutsu. We're only on the second floor, not the third. That's not the room we're headed to.

'Is he an idiot? He just told everyone about the genjutsu. Damn him….' Naruto thought with clenched fists. The purpose of the genjutsu was obvious, or at least it was to him.

Several genin gasped at the realization that they had just been tricked.

"You have pretty good eyes. Let's see if you can dodge this though." The genin said before he sent a kick flying at Sasuke, who went to kick him in return. Neither kick landed though.

The green spandex wearing genin suddenly appeared between them and caught both kicks effortlessly.

'That guy… he's as fast as Naruto….' Sakura thought in surprise.

'He's nearly as fast as I am, and he didn't even use the Body Flicker Technique….' Naruto thought. He was very impressed by the boy before him.

'His arm… how much chakra did he use to stop my kick?' Sasuke thought in complete shock. He was beginning to find that there were more and more people stronger than him out there. First it had been Haku, then it was Naruto, and after that it was the ridiculous looking kid in spandex.

"Lee, I thought you wanted us to appear weak." a genin of the Hyuga clan said as he walked out of the crowd. "I believe you said that you wanted to 'show the world the powers of the Flames of Youth.' What happened to the plan?"

"I'm sorry Neji; I got a little carried away." the spandex wearing boy said with a nice guy smile.

"Whatever, it's fine. It's better this way anyways." the girl with buns in her hair said as she walked up to them. "Let's just get to the room."

"Wait a minute." Neji said as he looked at Sasuke. "What is your name?"

"Isn't it polite to tell another your name before demanding theirs?" Sasuke asked rhetorically as he began to walk away with Naruto and Sakura following him. Once again, Sakura was thinking that he was acting cool while Naruto was thinking that he was acting like a jerk.

Walking through the hallway, they eventually passed through a large room with a balcony that sat above it. The room was mainly used for taijutsu spars, but sometimes guest speakers came to talk to the Academy students there.

The room was near the only stairway that could be used to reach the third floor. Originally, the Academy was a two story building. When the third floor had been added, a different stairway had been added as well.

As they reached the center of the room, they heard a voice coming from the balcony.

"Wait!" the spandex wearing boy said from the balcony. Given his previous speed, Naruto could not claim to be surprised that he arrived before they did.

Jumping down in front of Sasuke, he said, "Rock Lee… that is my name. You said that it is polite to tell your own name before you ask for another's. That is what you said, is it not, Sasuke Uchiha?"

"You already know who I am, I see." Sasuke said, looking at the boy with a careful eye.

"That is correct, and I would like to challenge you to a fight to test my abilities. I am the strongest genin of my year, and I am told that you are as well." Lee said as he looked at Sasuke with a measuring eye. "What do you say?"

"Fine, I'll beat you before the exams start." Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan.

"It will not be that easy." Lee said as he entered a taijutsu stance that the Uchiha did not recognize.

'Damn, he's going to get his ass kicked.' Naruto thought as he looked at Sasuke. He knew that Sasuke was good, but Lee's speed was obviously on a whole other level than his own.

Sasuke soon found that out when he engaged Lee in a strictly taijutsu fight. Even though the Uchiha could follow Lee's movements with his eyes, he was nowhere near fast enough to dodge, block, or counter them. Lee actually stated as much during the fight, which made Sasuke a little angry.

The fight came to an end when Lee began to use a technique that involved having his bandages wrapped around the Uchiha.

What came after that would forever be blocked from Naruto's memory. No one deserved to see two male twinkies with bowl cuts, bushy eye brows, and green spandex bodysuits hugging with a sunset and beach behind them.

When Rock Lee and Might Guy were gone, Sasuke said, "How in the hell did I lose to that?"

"He kicked your ass." Naruto said with a shrug as he began to walk towards the stairs, leaving a fuming Sasuke. He inwardly chuckled at his teammate's response to his answer. He answered with a smartass answer, but it was a correct answer all the same.

They arrived in front of room three hundred one about five minutes after that, where Kakashi was standing with a lazy look in his eye.

"Good, you're all here. I can actually let you take the Chunin Exams then." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. Her teammates wanted to know too.

"You can only take the Chunin Exams as a team. If one of you had not wanted to take them, then none of you would have been able to. I did not tell you that since I did not want any of you to pressure the others. That's a moot point though." Kakashi answered.

"That's true, but it would have caused problems if Sasuke and I had wanted to take the exams but Sakura had not. It would have caused us to hold a grudge against her for denying us the opportunity." Naruto said, in another one of his fits of being serious. "Is that really a smart idea?"

"Again, it is a moot point." Kakashi said as he took the applications from the three genin. With another eye smile, he said, "You may enter." As he spoke those last words, he opened the door for them to enter.

Naruto's eyes widened dramatically as he saw the large volume of people in the room. It seemed that there were at least one hundred forty participants inside already.

The three genin entered the room and went to stand off to the side when they were met by a loud shot of "Sasuke!"

Naruto turned just in time to see a blonde jump onto Sasuke's back and wrap her arms around him.

"Stay tuned for a brand new airing of 'Attack of the Fan Girls.' We are now watching last year's Rookie of the Year mere seconds from a blonde shrieker having her way with him." Naruto said in an incredibly serious voice as he held his hands up as if they were a camera. "This sight may be too horrifying for most of our viewers to watch, but it is a horrifying sight of reality."

Three people busted up laughing at Naruto's words. That laughter signaled the appearances of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Kiba Inuzuka. Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga were following Kiba as well.

"Wait until I get my hands on you!" Ino yelled at him as she went to strangle him. Seconds after she grabbed his throat, Sasuke appeared in his place.

"I wouldn't have had a problem with a pretty girl wanting to get her hands on me, but we're in a crowded room. Ask me later." Naruto said.

Hinata fainted at that while Sakura and Ino's jaws dropped. Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji looked shocked at the statement as well. Sasuke, on the other hand, was trying to figure out whether he should be angry at Naruto for substituting with him and getting him nearly choked or pleased that Ino and Sakura were focused on the blond knucklehead instead of him.

"Did you seriously just say that?" Kiba asked. When he saw Naruto, he said, "Man, you rock!"

"I do, don't I?" Naruto said with a cocky grin. The grin stayed up even as Sakura and Ino slapped him across the back of the head. It was worth it. Yeah, so worth it….

"So, all of us were nominated." Shikamaru said as he looked among them, barely glancing at the passed out Hinata that Shino was holding. "I guess the Rookie Nine are reunited. It's still gonna be troublesome though."

"If it's not troublesome, then it's not fun. Isn't that right, Kiba?" Naruto said as he nudged the Inuzuka who nodded with a feral grin.

"Maybe you guys should keep it down." a silver haired genin said as he approached them. He was glad in purple clothes and wore glasses. "Some of the test takers are pretty edgy. You don't want to offend them, or they might take offense in a violent manner, especially the Rain ninja. They're always touchy."

"Who asked you for your opinion?" Kiba asked rhetorically.

"No one, but you obviously need help. I can't say I blame you though. You're just rookies, thinking this is going to be a walk in the part. Well, it's not. This test is incredibly difficult. It is a test just to make it out alive, let alone uninjured. And even if you do survive, you're not guaranteed to become chunin at the end of it."

"Is this your second time?" Sakura asked, looking at the silver haired boy carefully.

"Not, this is my seventh time. The Chunin Exams are held twice a year, so this is my fourth year." he answered.

"You must know a lot about the exams then." Sakura commented.

'Yeah, he must know how to fail them.' Naruto thought. There was something about the young man that he did not trust.

"That's right. My name is Kabuto Yakushi, and I'll share some of the information I have obtained over my many attempts… with these Ninja Info Cards." he said as he pulled out a large deck of cards from his pack.

"What in the hell are ninja info cards?" Kiba asked in confusion.

"They are cards that have information burned onto them via chakra. By applying my chakra to them, they go from blank cards into detailed cards about certain things. I have cards on the statistical data of the participants taking the exams, for one." Kabuto said as he drew a card from the deck. It suddenly went from a blank card to a map of the Elemental Nations. "There are seventy two participants, or twenty-four teams, from our village taking part in these exams. There are also ten teams from the Hidden Sand, five teams from the Hidden Grass, four teams from the Hidden Waterfall, seven teams from the Hidden Rain, and one team from the Hidden Sound taking part in the Exams.

"I've never heard of the Hidden Sound Village." Sakura said.

"No, you wouldn't have. It's a new village. I don't even know much about it, or the three candidates that they sent." Kabuto admitted.

"Do you have information on individual shinobi?" Sasuke asked, earning a surprised look from Naruto. He had not expected the Uchiha to actually ask for any information like that.

"Yeah, I do. I have a little information on everyone here, even you guys." Kabuto said with a smirk. "Are you worried about a few candidates?"

"Their names are Gaara of the Sand Waterfall and Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf Village." Sasuke said, ignoring the last question.

"Fine, fine… does anyone else want information on a certain shinobi?" Kabuto asked.

"I want information on you and Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village." Kiba said, earning a surprised look from his blond friend.

'Why would he want information on me?' Naruto though.

"If you're that eager, I'll go ahead and show you. I never thought I'd actually have to use the card I made for myself though." Kabuto said as he withdrew four cards from the deck. Placing chakra into them, they quickly revealed the information that everyone had wanted.

"Gaara of the Sand Waterfall is also known as Gaara of the Desert. Beyond his name and his mission record, I don't have much information on him. He's completed eight C-rank missions, and- wow- one B-rank mission as a genin. It says that he has never been injured on a mission either." Kabuto said as he showed them the card. He then moved it to the back of the four cards that he had withdrawn from the deck.

The Rookie Nine were trying to figure out how a genin completed so many C-rank missions and a B-rank mission without any injuries at that point. They were broken from their thoughts when Kabuto spoke again though.

"Rock Lee is a year older than you guys and has completed twenty D-rank missions and twelve C-rank missions. His sensei is Might Guy and his teammates are Tenten Higurashi and Neji Hyuga. From what I've gathered, his taijutsu has improved greatly in the past year, but his ninjutsu and genjutsu skills are non-existent. Like you guys, this is his first time to take the Chunin Exams." Kabuto said.

Later on, they would find the bit about ninjutsu and genjutsu quite laughable.

"I am five years older than you guys and have completed a total of one hundred sixty-three D-rank missions and twenty-eight C-rank missions. My teammates are Misumi Tsurugi and Yoroi Akado. I'm average in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, while I'm slightly above average with medical ninjutsu." Kabuto said as he showed them his card. He then put it up.

He looked at the final card and then looked at Naruto with a smile. "I normally don't share my information on a shinobi with the one that the information is about, but there's a first time for everything." Kabuto said.

"I suppose there is." Naruto said with a grin. "I have nothing to hide."

"Naruto Uzumaki graduated as the Dead-Last this past year. He has completed twenty D-rank missions, one C-rank mission, and one A-rank mission. I don't believe I've ever see a team of genin to have done an A-rank mission, especially not a team of rookie genin." Kabuto said.

The eyes of every member of Team Eight and Team Ten opened wide at that point. The knowledge that he had done an A-rank and a C-rank mission already shocked them.

"His sensei is Kakashi Hatake, the man who has copied a thousand jutsu and is renowned as Copy Ninja Kakashi. His teammates are Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Since graduating, his ninjutsu and ninja tools skills have improved a bit and his taijutsu skill has gone up considerably. His genjutsu skills are non-existent." Kabuto said.

'So, genjutsu is his weakness.' Shikamaru thought, wondering how he would exploit such a weakness. He was not exactly talented with genjutsu after all.

"Oh, and it says here that he has more chakra than an average jonin and knows the B-rank clone technique, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, along with the A-rank kinjutsu, the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. In addition to that, it says that he can create upwards of one hundred shadow clones, but his limit remains unknown. Is my information correct, Naruto Uzumaki?" Kabuto asked.

"It's not bad, but you underestimated me." Naruto said with a smile.

None of the genin listening knew what to think about the information that Kabuto had just revealed.

As soon as Kabuto went to put up his Ninja Info Cards, he found himself under attack as kunai slammed into the ground where he was.

Dodging the kunai, he quickly found himself being attacked by a Sound ninja wrapped in bandages with a large metal gauntlet on one arm that was had several holes in it like a musical instrument would.

Kabuto dodged a strike from that Sound shinobi, but a few seconds later, his glasses shattered and he vomited.

"Listen carefully and write this down. We, the genin of the Hidden Sound Village, are going to make chunin." the bandage wrapped Sound genin said as his teammates appeared behind him.

"Quiet down, you worthless bastards!" a loud voice ordered as a cloud of smoke formed at the front of the class. When it cleared, they saw a scarred Leaf ninja wearing a bandana style forehead protector and a trench coat. Behind him, a good number of chunin were standing. Once he had their attention, he said, "Thanks for waiting. I'm Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the first test. Now, I want the genin from the Hidden Sound Village to stop doing as they please. There is to be no unsanctioned fighting during the Chunin Exams. If you break this rule, you'll have your ass, along with your teammates, kicked out of here so fast that you'll think it's the second coming of the Yellow Flash."

"Sorry, it's our first time. We got carried away." the Sound ninja that attacked Kabuto said with a shrug.

"Now, I want each of you to come up here, and you will be given a tab with a number on it. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will sit in the seat that is assigned to you. Once you're all seated, we will begin the first test." Ibiki said.

Hearing that a seat would be assigned to him, knowing that they were in a classroom, and seeing stacks of papers in the hands of a few of the chunin, Naruto quickly realized what was going on.

"No… it's a paper test… fuck!" Naruto said, almost in tears.

"Please stop shouting obscenities and come get your tab." Ibiki said without even looking up.

That only caused Kiba to bust up laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

**6. The First Test**

It did not take long for Naruto to wind up sitting next to Hinata, who wished him luck. Sasuke was sitting towards the back of the room, and Sakura was sitting a few tables behind Naruto. They all seemed nervous but ready. The chunin that were assisting Ibiki had already finished passing out the tests, but they were all face down.

"Do not turn your tests over yet. Listen closely to what I'm about to say. There are many important rules to the first test. I'll write the rules on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully." Ibiki said.

'Why aren't questions allowed?' Sakura thought curiously.

"The first rule is that you guys will start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions, and each one is worth a point, but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all of the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. If you miss three questions, then you will lose three points of those points and have seven left over." Ibiki said.

'That sounds fairly simple.' Sasuke thought.

"The second rule is that whether or not you pass will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial team total of thirty." Ibiki said.

"Wait a second!" Sakura said as she raised her hand. "I understand this initial points system, but why is it a team test?"

"Shut up, you don't have the right to question me." Ibiki said. "There is a reason for this, so be quiet and listen."

Sakura shut her mouth at that. She did not know why he snapped at her.

"Okay, the next rule is the one that you will all need to remember the most." Ibiki said. "The third rule is that during the exam… anyone caught cheating by the chunin proctors doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offense."

'So there are more ways to lose points than just answering questions wrong.' Sakura thought.

"So there will be some who lose their points during the test and be asked to leave." Ibiki said.

"We'll have our eyes on you guys." a chunin said from the perimeter of the room.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of chunin… be proud ninja." Ibiki said. "The fourth and final rule is that those that lose all of their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any of their questions correctly will be failed along with their teammates."

Ibiki looked at the clock. "This test will last one hour." Ibiki said. "Begin now!" At that moment, the sound of one hundred fifty-three tests being flipped over at the same time was heard.

'Question number one is a cryptogram.' Naruto thought as he began to look at it. 'How am I supposed to do this? Kakashi-sensei never taught us about cryptograms before, and neither did Iruka-sensei.'

'Line A from the diagram is the farthest possible distance that a shinobi can throw a shuriken from a tree that is a height of seven meters tall. For enemies that appear within the circumference of the shuriken's range, explain the attack options using this distance. Show your work.' Sakura thought as she read the question. 'This is a very complicated question that requires a high amount of both book smarts and experience. There is no way that half of the people in this room can answer this. I can, but I know that Naruto can't at the very least.'

'I see what this is about now.' Sasuke thought. 'It's fairly simple, but it was so subtle that I almost did not notice it.'

'I can't answer a single one of these.' Naruto thought. 'Plus, what's with question ten? It says that the question will be revealed fifteen minutes before time is up.'

Naruto glanced at the proctors around the room. They were staring at the genin with watchful eyes. 'What's with them? It's like they think we'll cheat.' Naruto thought. A realization hit him when he thought about it. 'The proctor said to be proud ninja. He said not to get caught cheating. Why didn't he say not to cheat? Damn it, this isn't a test to measure our intelligence. It's a test to see how good our information gathering skills are.'

'A shinobi must read underneath the underneath, so the examiner meant that if we are going to cheat, then we should be like proud ninja and not get caught. If you look at it that way, the point subtraction system and the ability to get caught cheating four times before failing all makes sense. It's all about being able to gather information without being caught by the proctors and the person that we are cheating off of.' Naruto thought with a smile.

Naruto reached into his ninja pack subtly and removed a smoke bomb from it. He carefully moved his both hands in front of him and busted them, smoking himself out. As soon as he was obscured, he created nine shadow clones that transformed into flies before the smoke cleared. He knew that he would be watched carefully for the rest of the test, but he would be able to get all the answers without moving at all though.

In his studies with Iruka, Naruto had learned that shadow clones could be used to scout and that any information they learned would be transferred to the original when the shadow clone was destroyed or it dispelled. He had no idea that such a use could be applied to studying or training though.

Each time one of the shadow clones memorized an answer, it would dispel. Thus, it took little time for Naruto to get the first nine answers.

Sasuke was able to learn all of the answers from using his sharingan, while Sakura was simply able to answer them because she was a genius.

For the next thirty-five minutes, Naruto watched as the chunin proctors threw kunai at the tests of everyone that cheated five times. A large number of people were disqualified because of cheating. The exact number of squads that were disqualified was thirteen.

'We've gotten rid of the trash, so let's go to the main event.' Ibiki thought. 'It's about that time...'

"Okay, we will start the tenth question now." Ibiki said. "Before we get to it… I'd like to go over some added rules for this question."

* * *

><p>In the Jonin Lounge, the jonin-sensei of the three rookie teams were sitting around, talking amongst themselves.<p>

"It sure is boring without my squad around." Kakashi said.

"Don't worry; you'll be busy again soon." Asuma said.

"Why is that?" Kakashi asked.

"I heard that the proctor for the first test is Ibiki Morino." Asuma said.

"They chose that sadist? Passing the first test may be very difficult then." Kakashi said.

"Who is this sadist that you're talking about?" Kurenai asked.

"You're a new jonin, so probably don't know about Ibiki yet." Asuma said.

"Who is he?" Kurenai asked again.

"He's a professional." Asuma said.

"What kind of professional is he?" Kurenai asked.

"Ibiki Morino is a Special Jonin..." Asuma said. "He is the head of the Torture and Interrogation Force of ANBU."

Kurenai's eyes widened at that announcement.

"Well, he won't be physically torturing them." Kakashi said, reassuring his peer in a calm and collected tone.

"Yeah, but he won't need it." Asuma said. "He specializes in mental torturing. He's so good at what he does that he has not needed to resort to physical torture in years."

Kakashi nodded in agreement with Asuma. "He knows the human mind better than you know genjutsu. That's what makes him scary." Kakashi said. "By attacking a person's mind, he can gain control over one's spirit. The person's weaknesses will float to the surface. You can't escape his interrogation."

"Why don't you sound worried then?" Kurenai asked.

"I have faith in my squad." Kakashi said. He gave an eye smile as he said that.

* * *

><p>Back in the testing room, Ibiki said, "For this question, you must decide whether or not you will even take it."<p>

"What happens if we choose not to take it?" Sakura asked immediately.

"If you choose not to take it, then your points will be reduced to zero. That will cause you, along with your teammates, to fail." Ibiki said.

"Why wouldn't we take it then?" Kiba asked.

"That brings me to the second rule." Ibiki said. "If you choose to take it and you answer incorrectly, then you will fail and lose the right to ever take the Chunin Exams again."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" Kiba asked. "There are guys here that have taken the exams before."

"You guys are simply unlucky. This year, I make the rules." Ibiki said. "I am giving you a way out though. Those that aren't confident enough can choose not to take it… and try again in six months."

"Those that do not wish to take it, raise your right hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave." Ibiki said. He watched for the next several minutes as examinees quit, one after another.

'He's good.' Naruto thought. 'He'll have to try a hell of a lot harder than that if he wants me to quit though. I cannot, and I will not, give up.'

"Good decisions… now to those of you still remaining, I congratulate you on passing the first test." Ibiki said.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki did something far more terrifying to the genin than any torture could have been. He smiled. "There never was such a thing… or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question." Ibiki said.

"What were the first nine questions for then?" Kiba asked. "Were they pointless?" He did not like the prospect of pointlessly taking an exam.

"No, they were not pointless. They served their intended purpose." Ibiki said. "The questions were not the type of questions that a mere genin could answer. Because of that, I'm sure that you all came to the conclusion that you had to cheat. Basically, the premise of this test is to cheat. As cheating targets, we had several chunin sit in with you that knew all of the answers so that you guys would have someone to cheat off of."

"Those that cheated poorly, failed of course." Ibiki said as he removed his bandana. "Because in times, information is more important than life… and on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

'His head… those are horrible burns, screw holes, and scars… those are the after effects of torture.' Sasuke thought.

"If the enemy or a third party notices you, then there is no guarantee that the information will be accurate. I want you to remember this. Information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and for the village." Ibiki said. "So we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities from those that did."

"But I still don't understand the final question." Sakura said.

"But the tenth question is the true purpose of the test." Ibiki said with a knowing smile.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Let me explain the tenth question, which was a take it or don't take it decision." Ibiki said. "Obviously, these are painful choices. Those who choose the latter fail along their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose their chance to ever take the test again. It is a true leap of faith."

"Let me provide you with a scenario. As chunin, you are given a mission to steal a secret document. The amount of ninja, their abilities, and a large number of other things are all unknown to you. Of course, there could be traps set around you. Do you accept or reject the mission? Can you avoid the dangerous mission just because you don't want to die or let your comrades get hurt?" Ibiki asked. "The answer is no. No matter what the danger, there are missions that you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship… this is the ability needed to become a chunin. Those who can't put their destinies on the line… who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year'… and then walk away from their chance… those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly decisions… they don't deserve the right to become chunin. That's how I feel. Those who choose to take it… those who answered the tough tenth question correctly… you will be able to survive any troubles that you face in the future. You have made it through the entrance. The first test of the Chunin Exams is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

The moment that those words left Ibiki's words, a cannon ball shot through one of the windows, shattering the window. The cannon unrolled in front of Ibiki to reveal a special jonin standing in front of a banner that read: Anko Mitarashi, Proctor of the Second Test. The special jonin was wearing a tan trench coat, a tan skirt, shin guards, and a suit of ninja mesh. She had purple hair in a spiky pony tail and brown eyes that lacked pupils.

"You guys, this is no time to be celebrating. I am the proctor of the second test, Anko Mitarashi. Let's go now." she said. "Follow me!"

"You have bad timing." Ibiki commented.

"Seventy-eight… Ibiki, you left twenty-six teams?" Anko said. "Your test was way too easy this time!"

"There are a lot of outstanding ones this time." Ibiki said.

"That's fine… I'll at least cut them in half by the end of the second test." Anko said. "Ah, I'm getting excited. I'll explain everything once we've changed places. Follow me."

Nervous gulps could be heard coming from the examinees as Anko Mitarashi licked her lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**7. The Forest of Death: Part 1**

Anko Mitarashi led the remaining candidates to a fenced in forest with signs that warned them of danger plastered on the chain linked fence. There was a booth right behind her when she stopped to face the examinees.

"Welcome to the stage for the second test, Training Grounds Number Forty-Four… also known as the Forest of Death." Anko said. "You'll soon find out why it's called the Forest of Death"

'I suppose we will.' Naruto thought.

"Now, before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out. You must sign these waivers." Anko said as she held up a stack of papers. "There will be deaths in this one, and if you don't sign these, then it will be all my responsibility."

"I'm going to explain the second test now. You can sign the waivers when I am done explaining it. Once you sign the waivers, each team will check in at the both behind me.

"Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival test. First, I'll explain the area in which it will take place. There are forty-four locked gates around the area. Almost all of the area is composed of forest with a tower in the center and a river that divides the forest in two and runs underneath the tower. From any of the gates to the tower is a distance of approximately six miles.

"During the survival test, you will be asked to complete a certain task using your weapons, tools, and jutsu. You will compete in a no rules scroll battle.

"You will fight over these two scrolls: the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth. Thirteen of the teams will start out with the Scroll of Heaven. Thirteen of the teams will start out with the Scroll of Earth. Your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls.

"There's a time limit too. The test will last exactly one hundred twenty hours, or five days. All of your survival needs are things that you will have to worry about. I'd recommend that you watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, and poisonous plants.

"The possibility of thirteen teams passing is very unlikely by the way. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther and thee time to rest will become shorter. The area is crawling with enemies too, so you won't get much sleep. So not only will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the course.

"Now I'll talk about what will disqualify you. First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit will be disqualified. Second, those who lose a teammate will be disqualified. As a rule, you will be in the forest for five days, so quitting in the middle is impossible. The final rule is that you must not look inside either scroll until you make it to the tower. A chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your worthiness. That is it for the explanations.

"Exchange the three forms for your scroll. Then, choose a gate to get ready for the start.

"My parting advice to you is to try not to die." Anko said.

With that, everyone began to sign their waivers and turn them in. The waivers were turned in behind a closed booth so that the other examinees could not see which teams got what scrolls and who actually carried the scroll.

Once everyone had their scrolls, Anko said, "Follow a chunin and go to your gates. We will start in thirty minutes."

Close to thirty minutes later, Team Seven reached gate number twenty-seven. Sasuke was carrying the Scroll of Heaven.

"Begin!" Anko said. Everyone heard her.

The chunin with Team Seven quickly unlocked the gate and allowed them to step through it. The instant that they were inside the forest, the chunin locked the gate back.

As soon as they entered, Sasuke said, "We should head towards the center of the forest and try to get a scroll as close to the tower as we can."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto just nodded in agreement. He did not feel like saying anything. From his experience, offering suggestions that opposed Sasuke's only resulted in rejection.

"Let's try to stick to a slow enough pace that we don't get tired quickly." Sasuke said as he began to head through the forest. Sakura instantly began to follow him with Naruto behind her.

* * *

><p>About thirty minutes into their journey through the Forest of Death, Naruto said, "Let's stop for a minute. I have to go."<p>

'He has to _go_?' Sakura thought on confusion.

Stopping in his position, Sasuke said, "Don't go too far. It would be a shame if you were attacked while you were… relieving… yourself and had no one to come to your rescue."

Sakura faintly blushed at the realization of what Naruto had meant.

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's statement and began to walk through the forest a little ways away from them. Once he was a few hundred yards from his teammates, he watered a tree. Once he was done, he began to walk back towards Sasuke and Sakura, but he stopped after a few steps.

Standing in front of him was Sasuke.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Sakura?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Right… I'll see you when you're done, Naruto." Sasuke said as he turned around.

As soon as Sasuke turned around, Naruto channeled chakra to his feet and dashed towards him. He planted his fist firmly in the back of Sasuke's head, causing him to be engulfed in a cloud of smoke. In Sasuke's place was a Rain ninja.

"How did you know that I wasn't Sasuke?" the ninja asked as he rose to his feet and looked at Naruto.

"Sasuke doesn't say my name like you do. He pauses for a millisecond after the first syllable of my name. I don't suppose you thought to watch us for a while beforehand though." Naruto said as he drew a kunai and jumped on top of the ninja. He slammed the kunai down on him, but he soon found himself on top of a log. Closing his eyes, he located the Rain ninja with his Echolocation Technique. He was quickly able to tell that the Rain ninja did not have any scrolls at all on him though, so he did not even try to pursue him.

Forming the ram hand sign, Naruto quickly used the Body Flicker Technique in quick succession twice, appearing in front of Sakura, surprising her and Sasuke.

"What's my name?" Naruto asked when he appeared.

"Naruto, what's going on?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Your name is Naruto." Sasuke answered, seeing that Naruto would explain everything in due time.

"On my way back, I was attacked by a Rain ninja that transformed into Sasuke. He did not realize what I was doing though. He said that he would see me when I was done, even though I was clearly walking back here. He also said my name like Sakura says it, not like how you say it." Naruto quickly explained.

'I guess it's a good thing I say his name different than Sakura does.' Sasuke thought.

"Also, his shuriken holster was on his left leg instead of his right leg." Naruto added.

'I doubt Naruto would have noticed something like that six months ago.' Sakura thought.

"It seems that we will need to come up with a password in case we get separated. The next time something like that happens, they may have studied us beforehand." Sasuke said.

"I agree." Naruto said as he took a deep breath. He could see the use in having such a password. After all, it was quite likely that Team Seven would get separated again. It would have been bad if the Rain ninja had actually been competent. Without a password, he could have taken Naruto's place with the team and attacked them when they were not expecting it.

"What should the password be?" Sakura asked.

"This will be the password: When does a ninja strike? A ninja waits until the time is right… when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard… when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night… that is the time when a ninja strikes." Sasuke said.

Sakura mouthed the password three times and then said, "Okay, I got it."

"Can't it be something shorter? I'll never remember that. It's too long." Naruto said.

"No, it is the password. If you can't remember it, then don't get separated from us." Sasuke said.

"Fine, I'll memorize it." Naruto said.

'He's improved a lot, but can he actually memorize something like that?' Sakura wondered.

"Now, let's go. We should pick up the pace." Sasuke said as he began to run through the forest with his teammates behind him.

The entire time, they remained unaware that they were being watched and followed me someone.

* * *

><p>About fifteen minutes later, Naruto was flung through the forest as a sudden gust of wind hit him and his teammates. He was at the very center of the blast of wind though, so Sakura and Sasuke were just thrown to the side while Naruto was actually sent flying through the forest a good hundred, maybe two to three hundred, yards away. He was not a good enough judge of distance to tell for sure.<p>

He was only stopped as he hit a tree, sending sharp pains through his back. If it was not for the fact that he was so durable, such a thing would have likely knocked him unconscious.

As soon as Naruto hit the tree, he activated the Echolocation Technique. His range was only fifty or so yards, so he could not detect his teammates. He could, however, detect a large snake moving towards him from the other side of the tree.

Quickly leaping away from the tree, Naruto saw a massive snake snap the tree that he had hit as it approached him. It automatically went for a killing bite, trying to swallow him whole.

'It seems I'm going to have to use that technique.' Naruto thought as he quickly pulled his left glove off and slammed his hands together as if he was about to pray. He then slammed his left hand down on the ground before him.

"Uzumaki Sealing Style: Chakra Stasis Field" Naruto said as seals were transferred his left arm to the ground below him. The seals quickly spread out in a ten yard circle around him.

Once the seals were spread out, Naruto kept his left hand on the ground and waited for the snake to get closer to him.

As the snake touched the border of the circle, the seals that were covering the ground transferred to it. As the last of the seals went from the ground to the snake, Naruto jumped out of the way, causing the snake to slide straight past him. It appeared to be completely incapable of moving outside of the momentum that had accumulated before reaching the seals.

'Wow, it worked.' Naruto thought as he looked at the seals covering the snake. He had tested it on a cat a few days earlier, and the seals had held nicely. He knew that the seals would not hold as long as they did on the cat though.

Naruto removed his right glove and clapped his hands together once more. He then walked up to the snake and slapped his right hand onto its scaly body.

"Uzumaki Sealing Style: Living Paper Bomb Jutsu" Naruto said as seals quickly began to transfer from his right arm to the snake's body. Just as the seals finished transferring from his arm to the snake, he used the Body Flicker Technique to get out of range and then activated the Living Paper Bomb seal from a distance.

A massive explosion shook the trees around Naruto as the snake exploded with the force of twenty-five paper bombs. The body of the snake disappeared completely though, which confused Naruto. The way that he applied the seal should have simply severed the body in half. It was too large of a creature to be completely destroyed with the size of an explosion that he had used.

'At least my Living Paper Bomb Jutsu is complete. I still have three-quarters of my seals too.' Naruto thought.

Naruto shook his head, breaking away from those thoughts. He knew that he had more important things to do at that moment. The main thing that he had to do was get to Sasuke and Sakura and make sure that they were alright. He had the feeling that they were fighting whoever blew him away.

Deciding to prepare himself first, Naruto pulled his right sleeve up to his elbow. When he did, intricate seals could be seen wrapping around and covering the half of his arm closed to his elbow. Closing his eyes, he made the seals move down. Soon, they were covering his arm from his elbow to his wrist completely. The seals were also covering the lower half of his upper right arm, but that was not visible at that moment.

Quickly pulling his sleeve back down, Naruto formed the ram hand sign and began to use the Body Flicker Technique to reach his friends once again.

Within a few moments, Naruto was on a high tree branch, looking down as Sasuke was facing a strange looking Grass ninja with a long tongue. He could see Sakura sitting on a nearby tree branch as well. She looked terrified.

Quickly drawing a kunai, Naruto threw it at the Grass ninja with all the force he could muster. It slammed into his shoulder surprising everyone.

'I must have gotten carried away if I did not notice him.' The Grass ninja said as he removed the kunai from his shoulder and threw it at a nearby tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, recognizing her teammate.

"Sorry it took me so long. I got lost on the road of life." Naruto said as he performed the Body Flicker Technique, appearing next to Sakura. Looking at the Grass ninja, he asked "I don't suppose you sent that snake after me, did you?"

"Yes, I did. I see you survived. That's most unfortunate." the Grass ninja said with a wicked smile.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot. Sorry to say this, but I'm not going to die until I become Hokage. You're welcome to try to make me into a liar, but I never go back on my word. That's my ninja way." Naruto said.

"Naruto, you have to take Sakura and run! This guy is on a whole other level. We can't…." Sasuke began. He staggered back as Naruto flickered in front of him and punched him.

Sakura was struck speechless at the sight of Naruto hitting their teammate. She could not figure out what to say though.

Reaching into Sasuke's pack, Naruto grabbed the Scroll of Heaven and placed it in his pack. He then looked at the Grass ninja.

"As I said, I'm not going to die until I become Hokage." Naruto said with unwavering self-confidence. "It seems that I have to kill _him_ too since the Sasuke we all knew is dead. Sasuke would never have even thought about surrendering. He was never a coward." At that point, he looked at Sasuke. "You, on the other hand, are nothing but a coward. I don't care if this guy is stronger than Kakashi-sensei. I will not back down. I will not give in. I will not surrender. I will always keep trying, and I will always keep my word. That is my ninja way."

Hearing Naruto's fierce determination and declarations made Sakura's heart skip a beat. She had never heard him say something that inspirational before.

Looking back at the Grass ninja, Naruto said, "Now, are we going to go wild, or are we just going to have a staring contest."

"Very well then. I will kill you." the Grass ninja said as he formed hand signs. An instant later, a massive snake appeared beneath him.

"Bring it on!" Naruto said as he leapt towards the snake with a chakra enhanced jump. As he reached the snake, it hit Naruto with its nose though, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

"So much bark… not enough bite… pity…." the Grass ninja said as he shook his head.

"I'll show you bite!" Naruto said as pushed off the tree and leapt towards the Snake again. More anger could be heard in his voice than normal. In addition to that, his eyes had taken a slit shape and were crimson.

In an instant, Naruto reached the snake and began to pound away on it with his hands and fists, moving much faster than Sasuke had ever seen him move before.

After a few minutes, the Grass ninja shot a fireball from his mouth that hit Naruto and sent him flying into a tree a good distance away.

Sakura could not help but be worried at the sight of Naruto getting knocked away that easily when he was demonstrating power of the likes she had not thought him capable of. She did not have much time to think about it though. No… she saw the snake heading straight for Sasuke. He was not moving, and the snake would have easily hit him if nothing stopped it.

In a flash of red, Naruto appeared in front of Sasuke slammed his hands down on the snake's mouth, keeping it shut. His fingernails had taken on a more claw like appearance, and his whisker marks looked more feral.

Glancing back at Sasuke, Naruto said, "Hey… you're not hurt… are you, scaredy cat?"

Sasuke was suddenly hit with a flashback of the Demon Brothers attacking them. He could remember saying those say words to Naruto when the blond had been struck by one of the poisoned claws of the Demon Brothers.

'He's impressive. There's no doubt about it… he's the jinchuriki host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox….' The Grass ninja thought as he stuck out his tongue. His tongue stretched to unimaginable lengths and wrapped around Naruto before picking him up.

"I wouldn't have done that, if I were you." Naruto said with a feral grin as he grabbed the man's tongue with his right hand. "Contract Seal"

In an instant, the snake underneath the Grass ninja suddenly disappeared, causing him and Naruto to fall.

Upon seeing that he was falling, the Grass ninja used his tongue to throw Naruto off to the side, hitting a tree and knocking him unconscious.

The man quickly landed on a tree branch. Looking up, he saw Sasuke jumping down to fight him.

'It seems that he has been spurred into action… this is interesting.' the Grass ninja thought. Glancing at the unconscious form of Naruto, he thought, 'That boy is far more impressive than I expected. He must have used the blood from that kunai that hit me earlier to use the Contract Seal. Such planning is impressive at the very least. I never thought that I'd see a genin pull off a fuinjutsu technique like the Contract Seal either. If Akatsuki wasn't after him, I'd take him as a new vessel. Oh well, the Sharingan will suit me just fine. I'll need to make special note that the Uzumaki is to be left alive, no matter what, though. I can't have Akatsuki hunting me down for killing him.'

Shaking his head from such thoughts, the Grass ninja prepared to play with Sasuke a little bit. After the day was done with, he, Orochimaru of the Sannin, would have a new vessel being prepared.


	8. Chapter 8

**8. The Forest of Death: Part 2**

"Where am I?" Naruto asked as he sat up with a yawn. He could see that he was inside a small cave like structure, but he did not know anything beyond that. The last thing that he could remember was being flung by a very long tongue.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed as she wrapped the blond in a tight hug, surprising him to no end. "I'm so glad to see you're awake. I was beginning to fear the worst." By her tone, it was easy to tell that she had been worried a great deal. Not all of the worry was gone though.

Naruto returned the hug and said, "Everything's going to be okay. Don't worry. I promise."

Sakura let him go and smiled. "You never go back on your word. It's your ninja way."

With a grin, Naruto said, "That's right." A serious look soon took over though. "What's the situation, though? I seem to have been knocked out before the fight ended."

Taking a deep breath, Sakura said, "Seeing you make that snake go away seemed to snap Sasuke out of it. He went to attack that guy automatically with his Sharingan active. I've never seen him fight quite that hard before." 'Well, he didn't fight as hard as you did, but still….' "He was doing well until that guy suddenly turned the tables on him. Then, he stretched his neck out like he was a snake and bit Sasuke on the neck. It knocked Sasuke out instantly. Then, the guy just left."

'It's not the most detailed story, but she probably knows I'd just forget it if she told me it in detail.' Naruto thought.

"Did the enemy say his name?" Naruto asked. The fact that he had summoned snakes still made Naruto uneasy.

"I think he said his name was Orochimaru." Sakura said quietly.

"Oh, that's not good." Naruto said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Orochimaru… the only person that I've ever heard of by the name of Orochimaru… was one of the Hidden Leaf Village's most skilled shinobi. He was a student of the Third Hokage back before the start of the Second Great Shinobi War. He was called the White Snake, but he is even more famous, or infamous, by the fact that he is one of the Sannin, one of the three legendary ninja to face Hanzo the Salamander in an even match."

Sakura's eyes widened at that. She was not sure whether she should be more shocked that such a powerful ninja had attacked them or that Naruto knew all that information.

"I've been learning a great deal about fuinjutsu- sealing techniques- in the past few months. Most of the books on the subject are written by the Third Hokage or by his other male student, Jiraiya. In one of those books, it said that the five greatest fuinjutsu users that the Hidden Leaf Village has ever had were Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Minato Namikaze." Naruto said as he took a deep breath. "I wanted to read a little about them after I learned that they were so good at what I wanted to become good at. The stuff that I read about Orochimaru made my skin crawl. I think I'd rather hear stories from Zabuza about his time in the Blood Mist Village than hear anything about Orochimaru's past."

"Is it really that bad?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, it is." Naruto said as he took another deep breath. His heart was beating heavily as he thought about the fact that he fought Orochimaru of the Sannin. "He ran away from the village after he was caught experimenting on villagers and genin. Some of the experiments resulted in the death, or worse, for many infants."

Sakura involuntarily shivered at that thought.

"I need to see Sasuke's neck though. If Orochimaru bit him, it was probably part of a juinjutsu, or cursed seal technique. He was even more skilled with them than he was with fuinjutsu." Naruto said as he crawled over to Sasuke. He took a single look at the Cursed Mark on his neck and sighed.

"Is it a juinjutsu?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah…. we'll need Kakashi-sensei to check it out after this test is over with. From what he said, he's good with fuinjutsu. He should be able to seal it up." Naruto said with a grim look on his face. He knew that Orochimaru's juinjutsu was supposedly impossible to remove. It could be sealed, but no one but Orochimaru knew how to remove it.

"You seem to know a lot about fuinjutsu." Sakura commented.

"Did you know that I'm from a clan?" Naruto asked suddenly. He did not wait for Sakura to respond though. "I found out that my mother was a member of the Uzumaki clan from the Village Hidden among the Whirling Tides. It's a clan distantly related to the Senju clan. Apparently, they were quite famous for their skill with fuinjutsu. Unfortunately, none of their scrolls on their unique type of fuinjutsu survived the destruction of their village. When I learned that, I decided to learn the normal kind of fuinjutsu. I figure… if I can't use my clan's fuinjutsu, then I might as well use the normal kind. Normal is better than none after all, right?"

Sakura was stunned by Naruto's words. She had never imagined that he was a member of a long dead clan that was related to one of the founding clans of the Hidden Leaf Village.

"When the Old Man- that's what I call the Hokage- told me that there were no scrolls about the Uzumaki fuinjutsu around, he offered me a few books that he and his student had written on normal fuinjutsu. He gave me five pretty good sized books, and I've only mastered the first three of them. I actually used what the books taught me to get rid of that snake summon earlier." Naruto said with a small smile. He looked at Sakura. "So, I guess you could say I'm not bad with fuinjutsu. I can use it well enough for a genin."

Naruto was not mentioning the fact that he could use fuinjutsu on a higher level than any genin in the village.

"So, how long was I out?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I think it was about four hours." Sakura answered as her eyes stayed on him. "I don't have a watch on me, so I'm not for sure about the exact time."

Naruto merely nodded in understanding. He was still sore, but his chakra was as strong as ever. That was not a big surprise to him though. His only uses of chakra in the Forest of Death so far had been in the form of the Body Flicker Technique and the Contract Seal. He had used chakra to enhance his jumps and dashes, along with sticking to trees as well, but that was not exactly chakra intensive.

"Have you set any traps yet?" Naruto asked as he steadied himself. He knew that the first priority was keeping Sakura and Sasuke protected. If the latter did not wake up before the end of the second test, Team Seven failed. Therefore, trying to collect additional scrolls could end up becoming a waste of time. It was better to make the decision on what to do after Sasuke awoke.

"I set some traps on the ground, but I was about to set some more traps above." Sakura answered.

"That's good. I'll set the above traps. I have a bit of experience with trap making." Naruto said with a prankster's smile. "Take a nap while I handle this. You look worn out. You carried us both a ways, so I can understand you being a little tired. You deserve your rest."

Sakura could not deny that she was tired, so she removed her hip pouch and placed it on the ground. She used it as a pillow and laid down on the opposite side of Sasuke from where Naruto had been.

"I'll wake you up at the first sign of trouble." Naruto said as he put his hip pouch back on.

"Thank you." Sakura said softly.

"What are friends for?" Naruto asked with a small smile as he exited the cave like structure. He quickly went to work on setting up the traps that would be set off if the enemy tried to attack from above. Once he was done with the traps, he sat back down in the cave like structure and removed a bottle of ink and a brush from his pack. Removing his shirt, he began to work on applying new seals to his arms.

* * *

><p>A few hours later….<p>

"Sakura, wake up." Naruto said as he placed a hand on the kunoichi's right shoulder and shook her awake.

She pink haired girl opened her eyes and was surprised to find Naruto's face above her own. They instantly looked away from each other with a slight tinge of red to their cheeks.

"Enemy shinobi are approaching. They're the same ones that attacked Kabuto before the first test." Naruto said as he looked towards the open field that stood before the cave like structure that Sakura had brought them to earlier on in the day. "There are only three of them, but I've never had any talent at sensing chakra, so I can't tell how strong they are."

Sakura did not look surprised at that admission. While it was true that all shinobi could sense chakra to a small extent, Naruto's talent at it was far below average, a fact that Ami had brought up in class every now and then to humiliate him.

"How can you sense them?" Sakura asked. If he knew who was headed towards them, then he had to have some way of sensing after all.

"Shadow clones are great scouts. I placed three around our position. When one of them learned who was coming here, it dispelled, passing its knowledge to me." Naruto said as he drew a kunai. "That's not what you were asking though. You wanted to know how I can sense enemies with such detail when I can't sense chakra very well. I can sense things like bats can. It's a technique Iruka-sensei taught me after we got back from the mission to the Land of Waves."

"Iruka-sensei taught you a jutsu?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"He taught me the Body Flicker Technique also. He actually says that I'm better at using it than he is." Naruto said as he stepped out of the cave like structure and held the kunai backhanded. "How did you think I got so strong?"

Sakura did not know how to answer that, so she went and stood beside him.

As soon as Sakura reached Naruto, the three Sound ninja from before landed at the edge of the clearing.

"What scroll do you have?" Naruto asked loudly as the enemy shinobi appeared.

"Why should we answer you, brat?" the Sound kunoichi asked rhetorically.

"Oh, I don't know… maybe because I'm not going to let you leave alive unless you have the Scroll of Earth. If you do have it, then I'll let you walk away with your lives as soon as you place it on the ground." Naruto said calmly, surprising Sakura.

"You…!" the Sound kunoichi began.

"Be quiet. Kin, Zaku, we have orders. Don't forget them." the bandaged Sound shinobi said. "Sorry to pass up your offer, but we don't play be your rules. We're here to kill the Uchiha. That's all."

"I see… you'll have to come through me to get him then. I will protect my friends with my life, if need be." Naruto said as his hand tightened on his kunai.

"We will see how difficult that is soon enough." Zaku said.

"Don't forget what Dosu said. You can't forget that part of the orders." Kin said.

"Right… I almost forgot." Zaku said. "Let's get this over with."

"Stop right there." Dosu said. "The ground… it has recently been dug up. If I had to guess, I'd say a few traps were set up. It's the work of a poor ninja. What good is setting a trap when it's obvious?"

The Sound shinobi laughed and then jumped through the air toward them, carefully avoiding the traps that Sakura set for them.

"Naruto Uzumaki… my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it well." Naruto said as he formed the ram hand sign. In an instant, a barrage of shuriken flew at the Sound trio from both sides, along with from below and above.

'Another trap?' Dosu thought in surprise.

"Slicing Sound Wave" Zaku called out as he quickly blasted the shuriken that came at him from both sides with the wind tunnels that were in his arms. As he did that, Dosu blocked the shuriken from below with the metal tool on his arm and Kin deflected the ones coming from above with a kunai.

Sakura was beginning to worry when she saw how easily they dealt with the traps, but the smirk on Naruto's face stopped her.

Naruto quickly threw the kunai in his hand off to the side, slicing a rope that Sakura had not noticed until that moment.

Suddenly, a massive log began to swing towards the trio mid-air. It was held up by five ropes. Black marks seemed to cover the back half of the log as well.

"He isn't that bad at traps." Dosu said as he pulled his fist back and punched the swinging log. He was just about to use his Melody Arm to destroy it when he heard the faint sound of sizzling. He quickly used a chakra enhanced jump to leap back from it seconds before the log exploded with the force of seventy paper bombs.

Sakura's eyes widened considerably as she saw the explosion. They had been just out of range of the attack.

"They're not down… none of them are… they're better than I expected." Naruto commented. He had expected the traps to take down one of them at the very least.

The Sound trio landed back at the same position where they had started a second later.

"You're good, but not good enough." Dosu said. "Zaku, blow the obvious traps away. Those are the only ones on the ground. I'm sure of it."

"Slicing Sound Wave" Zaku said as he blew away the makibishi that had been planted in a protective line. It had also blown away a few bear traps that they had not noticed.

"Now, we go after Sasuke Uchiha." Dosu said as he began to dash forward with his teammates behind him.

"Sakura, I will handle the boys. I want you to handle the kunoichi." Naruto said quietly.

"But Naruto, you'll be outnumbered. You can't be serious." Sakura said, worried about the blond.

"I know their skills. The bandaged guy can use that thing on his arm as a special type of weapon. Even if he misses, he can attack with sound, somehow. That's what happened to Kabuto. And the other guy can blast sonic waves out of his hands." Naruto said. "I've been watching them carefully. And to be frank, I don't believe that you have the ability to handle either one. You're strong, but your abilities lie in other areas. I doubt that I could even win if I had to fight you, after all."

Sakura looked surprised, but she nodded in understanding.

In an instant, Naruto appeared behind Zaku and kicked him in the back of the head. As the Sound ninja did a front flip, Dosu spun around and threw a punch at Naruto. It hit the blond, but he was suddenly replaced by Zaku, shocking both Sound ninja.

"You're not very good, are you?" Naruto asked as he entered a taijutsu stance.

"You might be good at a weak ass technique like that, but our techniques are much stronger." Zaku said as he shrugged the punch off. He was glad that Dosu did not activate his Melody Arm.

"A master with a pebble can beat a novice with a shuriken." Naruto said with a grin. "Unlike you guys, I'm a master." With that, he whipped out three shuriken and threw them at Dosu, who blocked them with his arm. As soon as they struck the Melody Arm, Naruto formed the tiger hand sign.

An explosion threw Zaku and Dosu back, completely catching them off guard.

"Did I forget to mention that I have this cool ass explosive jutsu? I call it the Uzumaki Sealing Style: Living Bomb Jutsu." Naruto said with a grin as he dashed forward with another handful of shuriken.

Hearing a whimper of pain, Naruto quickly threw the shuriken and set the seals off before he looked over as Sakura. Apparently, she had been over powered and was being held on the ground in a sitting position by her hair.

"You get to watch as they pummel your friend into oblivion. Then, you'll get to watch as we kill your other teammate." Kin said with a wicked laugh.

"We're your enemies! Slicing Sound Wave" Zaku shouted as he released two of his sonic blasts, slamming into Naruto's back and sending him tumbling to the ground.

'Damn it… I got distracted. I need to finish these guys off and help Sakura, but how…?' Naruto thought as he was hit by another Slicing Sound Wave.

Naruto quickly used the Substitution Jutsu as one more Slicing Sound Wave was launched at him. Once again, he traded places with an enemy, causing Dosu to get thrown across the ground by Zaku's attack.

Zaku quickly grabbed Naruto by the shirt and prepared his attack once again. "I bet you can't dodge from this distance."

"What are you doing? You should know a kunai isn't going to do anything." Kin said, catching Zaku's attention along with Naruto's.

"It's not for you." Sakura said as she looked back at Kin with a smile of grim determination. In her hands, she held a kunai. She quickly brought the kunai around and brought it in a swift arc, slicing her hair inches from where Kin held it.

Sakura quickly rolled away from Kin, free of the kunoichi's grip. The ferocity in the now-short haired kunoichi's eyes surprised Zaku so much that he did not notice her threw her kunai at Kin and rush through a series of hand signs.

In an instant, Zaku's grip on Naruto's shirt loosened as a genjutsu fell over him.

Seeing an opportunity, Naruto gripped the wrist of the hand that Zaku had held him by and brought his other hand in the same position. He knew that pain would awaken Zaku from the genjutsu, so he decided to render him unable to fight first. Naruto quickly brought both of Zaku's arms down as he jumped up, bringing his knees up as hard as he could. His knees made contact with Zaku's arms, breaking them with a resounding crunch.

Just as he did that, Sakura laid Kin out with a punch.

Seeing that Sakura had just defeated her enemy, Naruto realized that there was only one enemy shinobi left. Turning to look at Dosu, Naruto was punched in the back. In an instant, he felt a ringing sound that suddenly felt like someone hit him in the ear drum with a hammer.

He instantly knew that it was Dosu.

A sudden gust of wind stopped the second attack that Naruto had been expecting. After emptying his stomach, Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw Sasuke standing over a down Dosu.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the Uzumaki.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto said as he slowly rose to his feet. He looked at Sasuke nervously. Half of his face was covered in black marks similar in appearance to the Cursed Mark.

'That's a Cursed Mark… I see now….' Dosu thought.

"Is your offer still available, Uzumaki?" Dosu asked, surprising everyone there.

"Yeah, it is. Do you have a Scroll of Earth?" Naruto asked. When he received a nod from Dosu, he said, "Place it on the ground, and I'll let you take your teammates and leave. Otherwise, I will kill you."

"Naruto, we can't…." Sasuke began, but he stopped as he felt something hit his back. The Cursed Mark suddenly receded.

"That's a Chakra Suppression Seal. You don't need to be using that juinjutsu that Orochimaru left you." Naruto said, realizing what Sasuke was about to say. "Juinjutsu are bad about affecting your thought process. We don't kill enemies that surrender. Now Dosu, I want you to put down the scroll and get your team out of here."

"Very well… you win this time. If we ever meet again in combat, I will not retreat though." Dosu said as he placed the Scroll of Earth down on the ground and picked up Zaku, who had passed out when Naruto broke his arms. He then went over to Kin and picked her up. He quickly fled after that.

"Come on guys. We need to find another place to rest. We have both scrolls now." Naruto said as he picked Dosu's scroll up and put it in his hip pouch.

Sasuke and Sakura followed Naruto without a word. The former still disagreed with Naruto's decision to let their enemies live, while the latter was slight scared of Sasuke's darker chakra and impressed with Naruto's decision to let the Sound ninja life. She was also occupied with thoughts of how she needed to get stronger. She had lost quickly against Kin because she was too weak. True, she was getting more skilled with genjutsu, but she could not rely on genjutsu exclusively.

* * *

><p>It was six hours until the second test was supposed to end when Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke arrived at the tower. It was a bit strange that they were arriving on the last day when they had their scrolls on the first day, but they had been weakened and exhausted from the fights with Orochimaru and Team Dosu. As such, they had rested for a few days.<p>

During those days of rest, all they did was relax and remain unseen by the competition. Naruto had ended up giving Sakura a slightly more professional looking hair cut with a kunai during that time, which surprised the kunoichi. She never considered that he never had anyone to give him haircuts growing up, so he learned to do it with something as simple as a kunai.

About twelve hours before the end of the test, Team Seven had headed to the tower. On the way there Team Seven had been attacked once time. The Rain ninja that Naruto had fought at the start of the test had brought his team to attack them. The fight had been relatively short due to Sakura's talent with genjutsu and the teamwork that had always been seen in Naruto and Sasuke since the mission to the Land of Waves. During their fight with the team, Naruto had killed their leader while Sasuke and Sakura killed his teammates. So, they had gotten their first kills during the test. That had been the only opposition that they had faced in their journey to the tower though.

As they reached the tower in the center, they noticed that there were forty-four doors around it. There were really only twenty-two actual doorways though, since every two doors went to a single entrance. The doors had a piece of paper that was placed over the gap between the two doors so that the paper would act as a seal of sorts. If anyone opened one of the sets of doors, then the paper would tear in half, indicating that someone had already used those doors. With that knowledge, the three genin found a door that had not yet been used and opened the doors. They walked through the entrance and entered a fairly large room.

"Nobody is here." Naruto said. "What should we do?"

"Look at that." Sakura said as she pointed at a sign on the wall.

"Without heaven… what the hell does this mean?" Naruto asked.

"It looks like it is missing words there." Sakura said as she pointed at a blank between two kanji. "I think that they are telling us to open up the scrolls."

"We are at the tower now, so that sounds right." Naruto said as he removed and unrolled both scrolls.

"That's a summoning type jutsu. Let go of the scrolls." Sasuke quickly said as he saw what was on the scrolls.

Naruto wanted to roll his eyes at hearing that. He was more than a little familiar with the seals on the scrolls. Nonetheless, he threw the scrolls down. They crossed in an 'x' shape when they landed.

Smoke erupted from the scrolls and revealed none other than Iruka Umino. "Hey, it's been a while." Iruka said with a smile as he saw his former students.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked in confusion. "Why were you summoned? I mean, I'm glad to see you, but I'm a little confused."

"At the end of the second test, it's set up so that the chunin meet up with the examinees. I was allowed to be the one to greet you." Iruka explained.

"What do you mean by greet us?" Naruto asked.

"All three of you pass the second test, congratulations. To celebrate your successful completion of the second test, I'd like to buy you a round of ramen, but that will have to wait until later." Iruka said.

"What would have happened if we had opened the scrolls before getting to the tower?" Sakura asked.

"I would have been forced to disable you for the duration of the test." Iruka said in a serious tone. "But anyways, I'm supposed to explain the meaning of the writing on the wall right now anyways."

"I am curious as to what it means." Sakura said.

"It's the Chunin Motto, as written by Lord Hokage." Iruka said. "Heaven refers to the mind and earth refers to the body. If you lack heaven, seek wisdom and be prepared. That means that if you lack strength of mind, then study and prepare yourself for missions. If you lack earth, then run in the fields and seek advantages. That means that if you lack strength of body, then you must train your body. If you have both heaven and earth, you can succeed in even the most dangerous missions. The missing words basically come up to 'these rules will guide a person's extremes'."

The genin nodded in understanding at that.

"These five days of the survival test were to test the examinees' basic abilities that are needed to become chunin. You three successfully passed that. Knowledge, stamina, and inner wisdom are all required to perform the duties of a chunin." Iruka said. "I want you guys to take the next step with the Chunin Motto in mind."

"That is all that I have to pass on to you. Just be careful and don't push yourselves too much in the third test." Iruka said.

"We won't bite off more than we can chew. We can handle it." Naruto said. "We're awesome like that."

Iruka chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you to a room where you can rest for a little bit and get something to eat. A little before noon, someone will come and get you so you can start the next test."


End file.
